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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24501553">The Secrets We Keep</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsThunderFrost/pseuds/MsThunderFrost'>MsThunderFrost</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Witcher (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Comedy, Disaster Parent Jaskier | Dandelion, Established Relationship, Good Parent Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Jaskier | Dandelion is LOADED, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Musician Jaskier | Dandelion, Nonbinary Character, Personal Trainer Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Surprises, Trophy Husband Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, kind of</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:55:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24501553</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsThunderFrost/pseuds/MsThunderFrost</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not. -- Sara Gruen</p>
<p>Three years. He'd been dating Jaskier for <i>three fucking years</i>. And now, thirty-two seconds after his boyfriend put a ring on his finger, he drops a bombshell that manages to shift Geralt's entire impression of him in just a handful of words: he has kids. Three, to be exact. One for every year they'd been together where he'd <i>conveniently</i> neglected to bring them up. </p>
<p>He doesn't care that he has kids. He cares that he <i>lied</i> about it. Even if it was a lie by omission. </p>
<p>Well... that, and the fact that his fiance's youngest has been ruthlessly bullying Cirilla since their first day at high school.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Secrets We Keep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s been exactly thirty-two seconds since Jaskier has asked him to marry him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d said yes. Of course he’d said yes. And he’d been admiring the way that the </span>
  <em>
    <span>sizeable</span>
  </em>
  <span>, heart-shaped purple diamond glittered in the candlelight. The stone was beautiful, flawless to the naked eye, and he knew that it must’ve cost Jaskier a </span>
  <em>
    <span>mint</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jaskier had told him that it’d been a toss-up between a yellow and a purple diamond. A yellow diamond would’ve been </span>
  <em>
    <span>perfect</span>
  </em>
  <span> for an engagement ring, as yellow diamonds were said to symbolize love and devotion, but he hadn’t been able to find one that matched the exact color of Geralt’s eyes. So he’d decided on purple, because it was the perfect complement to yellow, and symbolized passion, mystery, magic, and royalty. It certainly didn’t hurt that it also gave him the opportunity to flash quite a bit of cash. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Geralt is well aware that his boyfriend－</span>
  <em>
    <span>fiance</span>
  </em>
  <span>－is loaded. It didn’t really bother him, seeing as Jaskier had never acted like he was somehow better because he had </span>
  <em>
    <span>literal</span>
  </em>
  <span> money to burn. He let Geralt live his own life for the most part, subsisting on his paychecks from the gym and child-support payments from his ex-wife. That’s not to say that he wasn’t prepared to come swooping in like a knight in shining armor if and when the need arose, but he was more than happy to let Geralt be his own man and－</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...and now that you’ve said ‘yes’,” Geralt blinks at him slowly; was there ever any doubt? “I suppose it’s a good time to introduce you to my kids－,”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait a minute. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What</span>
  </em>
  <span>? “You have </span>
  <em>
    <span>kids</span>
  </em>
  <span>?!” Not that that’s a dealbreaker or anything. That’d be rather hypocritical of him, considering he has Ciri, but… He’s admittedly far from thrilled that this is the first time he’s hearing about them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. Did I… forget to mention them?” Jaskier doesn’t seem nearly as upset about this as he ought, in Geralt’s humble opinion. “Hmm. I could’ve sworn that I’d mentioned them at least once, in passing.” ...</span>
  <em>
    <span>In passing</span>
  </em>
  <span>? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um… </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You’ve definitely never mentioned children before.” Geralt says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ahh… That would probably be because they hate me. Sometimes. Okay, most of the time. It’s very depressing, I try not to think on it.” Jaskier gives him a warbling smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, “Well, there’s no time like the present, right? I have three kids. Twin boys, Mikolaj and Maciej, and a younger child, Hadria.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay…” This is… quite a lot to process, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jesus</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “I know I’m not the most… </span>
  <em>
    <span>traditional</span>
  </em>
  <span> man in the world, but I’m pretty sure that you’re supposed to introduce your partner to your kids </span>
  <em>
    <span>before</span>
  </em>
  <span> deciding to get engaged.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jaskier drums his fingers on the table, looking a little agitated. “Yes, well… I haven’t actually seen them, face-to-face, since Hadria’s sweet sixteen. Three－no, </span>
  <em>
    <span>four</span>
  </em>
  <span> months ago.” When Geralt fixes him with a horrified expression, he hurries to add, “I still call. And FaceTime. And the boys are authorized users on my black card－,”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Geralt chokes on the air, “You let </span>
  <em>
    <span>teenagers</span>
  </em>
  <span> have unrestricted access to your American Express black card.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His fiance stares at him blankly, “How else are they supposed to buy food?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So… So Jaskier hasn’t actually been in the same room as his children since his child’s birthday, and he somehow expects this meeting, where he plans on dropping the literal </span>
  <em>
    <span>bomb</span>
  </em>
  <span> that he’s getting remarried, will go well? The ring on his finger feels so </span>
  <em>
    <span>heavy</span>
  </em>
  <span>, all of a sudden. Like his finger might snap beneath the weight of the massive stone. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This－This </span>
  <em>
    <span>nonchalance</span>
  </em>
  <span> is so unlike Jaskier. His b－</span>
  <em>
    <span>fiance</span>
  </em>
  <span> feels everything so incredibly deeply, wears his heart on the cuff of his fucking sleeve, and yet… When talking about the fact that his children apparently </span>
  <em>
    <span>hate</span>
  </em>
  <span> him, he seems about as moved as if he were talking about the weather. Which is weird and unsettling and so out of character, it’s making his head spin. He’d expect tears, or remorse for not making more of an effort to be with them… something, </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span> more than Jaskier shoving an oversized bite of pasta into his mouth with a near-pornographic moan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In thirty-two seconds, his entire perception of his fiance, of their relationship… everything had been upended, and he’s having a bitch of a time trying to </span>
  <em>
    <span>breathe</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why don’t you bring Ciri over to the penthouse on Saturday? I’ll make dinner－,” which is absolutely code for they’ll either order out, or run the risk of burning the entire building to the ground. “I’m sure that Hadria would love to make another friend xyr own age.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Yeah.” Ciri had some trouble making friends in school. Geralt had an inkling that she was being bullied, but Ciri hadn’t come to him about it and he didn’t know how to breach the topic on his own. “Friends would be… </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Excellent!” Jaskier is smiling now, radiant as the sun. “You’re not mad at me, are you? I swear that I didn’t mean to </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> tell you.” He swallows down another too-large mouthful of pasta, “I’m sure that the kids’ll love you. Probably. They’ll pretend, at least. I like to think that they are relatively well-mannered－,”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> kids, Jas. I’m sure that they’re amazing.” And then, after a beat, “I’m not… mad. Just a little surprised.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s more than understandable. I should’ve known when you started looking at me with that ‘deer in the headlights’ expression on your face,” Jaskier muses, laughing a bit when Geralt scoffs. “I’ll be honest. For a second there, I was half convinced you were about to give me my ring back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Geralt’s amber eyes widen, “What? No!” He snatches his hand back, placing it on his thigh underneath the table, like Jaskier might try and take the ring back anyhow. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good.” He nods. “So… Saturday.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a brief moment, as he begins to pick apart his dinner once again, he wonders if Jaskier is rushing into this because he’s looking for someone to raise his kids for him－although, if his youngest is the same age as Ciri, there’s not really too much ‘raising’ left to do. It just seemed so </span>
  <em>
    <span>odd</span>
  </em>
  <span> that he would be so indifferent about his children one minute, and then, in the same breath, lament over how depressing it was that his children didn’t like him. Jesus, it shouldn’t be possible for so much to </span>
  <em>
    <span>change</span>
  </em>
  <span> in just a few short minutes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he loves Jaskier. And he’d meant what he said when he’d told him that he wanted to be his husband. So the very least that he could do for him is try. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Saturday.” </span>
</p>
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